The popularity of the USB interconnect in mobile applications requires new low cost interface assembly to be developed suitable for installing aftermarket devices in reliable and aesthetic way. Many of these interfaces are designed for use in home and consumer electronic devices and are not suitable for mobile use as example automotive, biking, aviation and gym equipment markets.
In the existing interface panel installations there is no flexible and secure way for attaching a standard off the shelf harness assemblies with proper mating connectors to a panel. Let say for example if 3.5 mm audio jack needs to be installed to a panel an extension harness with the appropriate male to female jack can be used. The male side is interconnected to the equipment of choice and the female side should be installed at the panel.
There are number of ways known of attaching a female 3.5 mm stereo jack on a panel as example using a nut/thread assembly to secure the female audio jack connector portion to the panel. Although such installation may be proper for home or office entertainment equipment and not suitable in automotive environment where constant vibrations are present most of the time as well in many occasions the rear access to secure the nut is limited therefore the mentioned above installation is not practical.
An installation is even more demanding when it comes to USB and data connectors that now can be implemented in any environment to interface video, audio and data. There is no easy solution that can resolve the demand with minimum installation effort and meeting the automotive installation specifics.
The lack of retaining the standard interface cables as example audio and data cables is a particularly serious deficiency in the mobile and aftermarket applications because the standard peripheral connectors cannot be used in a reliable manner in the way they are used in a personal computer or home entertainment equipment.
As example invention from U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,289 shows custom locking piece that interlocks with custom over mold cable end. This invention requires a special over mold assemblies to accommodate the female USB side to a panel. This is requires custom made cables, multiple square holes precisely punched in a flat panel that is not easy to achieve in the automotive market.
Another prior art according U.S. Pat. No. 7,361,054 is showing entire connector assembly for a flange installation. The invention requires a complete connector modification and proposing a wing plate insert in a connector to allow panel installation.
Another prior art patent U.S. Pat. No. 7,094,099 shows a positive lock piece to hold the male side of USB A type connector in place in automotive application. The invention requires factory modifications, special housing and special tooling to install.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 7,438,602 Oct. 21, 2008 shows a multiple component connector assembly that replaces the cigarette lighter and requires a barrel with a nut lock and a custom female electrical USB connector assembly to be used. The female mating pins are custom part of the assembly designed to be replaced and fit to a custom cable harness.
Standard factory integration techniques have been used to accommodate various connectors for panel installation although so far there is no a simple practical and secure way to attach the widely used consumer USB extension cables or audio accessories to a panel with the aesthetics and the reliability the automotive market requires.
The connector retainer shell offered can be designed to accommodate any off the shelf extension harness end and is intended mainly for aftermarket vehicle device panel installation or home entertainment systems. The requirement set is that no special tools are required and the installation is done manually from the front side of the device panel as limited rear access and space is available most time on the field. Such invention provides new and practical method for accommodating the widely used consumer interface cables on a device panel.
Usually the design of the most common serial data interconnect cables is regulated by supervising institutions requiring general compliance. As example the mechanical and electrical regulations for High Speed Serial Bus (HPSB) known also as FireWire electrical and mechanical specification are regulated by the IEEE 1394 standard.
Regulations for USB interconnect can be found at the Universal Serial Bus Organization web site (www.usb.org). Those regulations address the mechanical housing design; coloring and labeling of all USB plug and receptacle assemblies which makes all the compliant harnesses interchangeable. Therefore creating a shell that will fit most of already available connectors is necessary and described in this invention.
Very often a custom design of USB connector interface for automotive aftermarket is not feasible due to the expense involved including design and certification, support and the installation inconsistencies when the installation have to be done across many different vehicle models.
The requirement set for the current invention to resolve is to use a standard off the shelf interface cables as example data (USB, HPSB) and multimedia (3.5 mm, RCA Jacks) and create a simple, aesthetic and reliable front side installation of a panel interface.